Doctor Who: Jenna-Louise Coleman confirms her return for series eight

The actress who plays Clara Oswald confirms she will be back filming with Matt Smith next September

Jenna-Louise Coleman has only just begun her role as the Doctor's companion, so we weren't expecting her to leave the series anytime soon. But the former Emmerdale actress has now confirmed her involvement in the eighth run of Doctor Who in which she plays the mysterious Clara Oswald.

When questioned by BBC Radio 5 Live about her continued involvement in the rebooted BBC serial following her full debut in last year's Christmas Special, she replied, "I think I can say that? I can say I will be in season eight."

Coleman also revealed that due to her co-star Matt Smith's busy filming schedule - he recently landed a role in Ryan Gosling's directorial debut How To Catch A Monster - production on the next series will not begin until September.

Radio 5 were also joined by Doctor Who producer Marcus Wilson who was predictably cryptic about the second half of series seven, due to begin on BBC1 on Saturday 30 March: "It's an epic series - Steven's raised the bar again. It's full of huge variety. We get to see some old friends, some old aliens, but running through is the delicious mystery of the impossible girl who is Clara Oswald."

Talking about Clara's partnership with the Doctor, Coleman added, "It's not as straightforward as them being great friends who go on this adventure - there's so much subtext of them both trying to figure each other out. I have the idea they're magnetically drawn to each other".

During the 15-minute interview she also chatted about the new interior of the Tardis - "I've never seen Matt so excited to have his toy back" - and revealed what her codename was during the audition process for the role. Listen to the full interview below: